Mahsi, Mr. Chair. First and foremost, obviously, the income security, improved programs. The Member asked if there have been any improvements, whether it be getting people off income security. We’ve had some changes with income security. Since 2009 we had approximately 3,400 cases and in 2013 it went down to 3,100 cases. There has been a drop of 8 percent over the last five years, approximately. That is a substantial change in our view. Obviously, we want to have a higher margin as well. That’s our target that we’re going to push forward with.
We are creating five employment service officers into the communities that will tackle those areas, as well, and having people ready for career choices. Those individuals will be working very closely with the community organizations. The 3,400, now it’s down to 3,100. Obviously, we want to decrease that
number as well. We will be reporting back to standing committee on the progress at that level.
ERI, the self-regulations. There has been a lot of discussion in that area where we brought in experts, very professional in that field and provided workshops, provided training to our school system. Even the Regular Members attended as well. This has been very successful today even though it’s very preliminary. But we will continue to provide those types of services. Through that area, ERI obviously is also working in line with the Early Childhood Development Framework and there’s also the Skills for Success Initiative as well. There are three big ticket items within my department that go hand in hand from early childhood, zero to five, K to 12, post-secondary and even beyond to workforce development, having our people with the required tools. This is a prime focus of my department.
Education, allowing students to reach their fullest potential. Obviously, that is what we’re focusing on. From what we’ve heard from the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, they want us to focus on early childhood, and that’s what we’re doing as part of one of our initiatives. Also, there has been talk about our secondary students are not ready for post-secondary, so ERI will be addressing that, as well, the discussion from the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. Through that venue it gave us a lot of feedback, and based on that, we have ERD, ERI and Skills for Success before us today.
Decentralization, how can we focus on those low-ratio, small communities. That’s our prime target. We are currently addressing that within our department, 15 positions through various communities throughout the Northwest Territories. Obviously, I’d like to see that number increase over time, and that is the target that we’re going to push forward within my department.
Obviously, Aurora College has been brought up on numerous occasions and how the reporting mechanism should be improved. This is an area that my department has been working very closely with the college board and also the senior staff on how we can improve in those areas. I take the Member’s words into serious consideration. Accountability plays a key role. That has been relayed to the college board already.